Tom Acker

NAU helps APS understand wind as a source of renewable energy

When Arizona Public Service began to examine the possibility of harnessing wind power as one of its sources of renewable energy, it turned to Northern Arizona University for help.

NAU's Tom Acker, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, and one of the nation's few experts in utility wind integration, recently worked with the utility to analyze the cost impacts of integrating wind energy into APS' energy system.

APS is interested in increasing the amount of its wind power because it is a clean, renewable source of generation.

Acker was the principal investigator on an eight-month Wind Integration Cost Study to understand how the variability exhibited by significant amounts of wind energy may affect the APS system from a financial and reliability perspective.

Since wind is a naturally varying power generation resource and is difficult to predict accurately, "It becomes a challenge for utility planners and operators whose job it is to predict future energy needs and then secure electricity to meet the demand," Acker said.

Specifically, attention was focused on the amount of wind energy the APS system may see in the relatively near term.

"The report describes how wind power will impact APS' system operation and costs, information that APS can use when evaluating current and future wind energy proposals," Acker said.